Nicoleta Stephens
The Founder and Creative Director of Keepsakes by Nicoleta
When reflecting on the many life experiences, temperaments, and chance occurrences that led Nicoleta toward creating memorial jewellery, a clear picture begins to emerge. Raised by her grandmother in Romania, Nicoleta grew up in a household where books, art and creativity were prized. Naturally, she was drawn towards creating things with her hands and took an interest in crocheting and knitting from the age of six. By ten, she told her grandmother that she would one day own her design business and create beautiful items that would change the world.
While Nicoleta is artistic by nature, she is also the daughter of a mathematics teacher, and inherited his affinity for numbers and geometry, a combination that lends itself perfectly to the both creative but precise art of jewellery. From witnessing how her Grandmother cherished, and was comforted by a costume from Romanian folklore once owned by her own late mother, Nicoleta learned firsthand how the personal effects of our deceased can be imbued with warm, special memories which provide comfort to those they left behind.
When her Grandmother passed away, Nicoleta felt her loss deeply, and in the absence of any of her grandmother’s personal effects, she learned the importance of being able to hold something of our loved ones, a tangible reminder of all they meant to us that we can hold closely with our own two hands. Through the culmination of these influences, creating cremation jewellery was a natural fit for Nicoleta. She is truly humbled that her work has played an important part of the grieving process for many, and she is passionate about helping people through an indescribable time.
